Prompt: We met while stalking our roommates on the internet dates we'd set up for them AU
Characters: Lucy and Natsu

Lucy gave Cana a pat on the back, she looked gorgeous, and she was going to have a great time. Whether she wanted to or not.

"You got this, girl!"

"I don't know Lucy, this whole internet dating thing seems weird.."

Lucy sighed at Cana's lame attempts to get out of this, again. Lucy pulled out her trump card.

"He marked the box saying he prefers to pay on dates" the blonde said, watching her brunette friend light up.

"Sold!" she said, skipping into the arcade and bar for the date Lucy had set her up on.

Now where, could Lucy hang around so she could make sure the date went well without seeming like a stalker…

There! Lucy thought, spotting a large bush right in front of a large window with a perfect view into the venue. The blonde had dressed appropriately for bush squatting, in fact her cargo pants were prepared for just about everything that could go wrong.

Lucy looked around to make sure the coast was clear as she slowly made her way over to the bush. Once she was sure no one was looking at her, she hurriedly dove into the bush.

"HEY! This is MY BUSH!"

Lucy screamed and quickly jumped back out of the bush and away from the crazy guy already squatting in there. Of course, her perfect lookout spot would have some weirdo already lurking in it. Although, the bush seemed big enough for two, how big or selfish could bush guy be?

"Can't you share?" Lucy growled, upset at the loss of such a good hiding spot.

A head of pink hair poked up into view, a white diamond-patterned scarf wrapped around the lower half of his face. His dark eyes squinted at her.

"What do you want to be in a bush for?" he asked.

Lucy blushed. She hated feeling judged, and who was he to be the one judging her? He was already in the bush! Who knew how long he'd been in there.

"Not that it's any of your business but my friend has a first date with an internet guy and I want to –" Lucy's sentence got caught up in a squeal as the pink-haired man grabbed her wrist and dragged her into the bush. She gasped and pulled her arm away, but before she could say anything he was lowering his scarf and giving her the biggest, brightest, smile she'd ever seen.

"My friend is in there on an internet date too! I set it up and I gotta make sure he doesn't bail or pull his usual shit."

Lucy shook off the distraction of how cute bush boy was and focused in on what he was saying.

"Wait, is your friend Gray?"

"Holy moly, yeah! That means you must be Cana's friend?"

"Yep. What do you mean by usual shit? He didn't mention anything in his profile…"

Natsu chuckled, it was a deep rumbly sound and Lucy couldn't help but watch the way the muscles in his jaw twitched as he tried to keep it to himself.

"Probably because I made that profile. Dude was moping around for way too long complaining about not getting a date, so I figured I'd better do something to shut him up. Don't worry though," the pink-haired man said, noticing Lucy's growing concern. "Gray's not psycho or anything he's just got some quirks. Most of us do. Like you and bushes."

"Excuse me?"

"Don't worry about it."

"You were in the bush first!" Lucy protested.

Bush boy just flashed another of his heart-stopping grins, the blonde fascinated by his prominent canines. "Look at that, our quirks match," he said. Lucy fought a blush, no man squatting in a bush had any right to be that smooth.

The pink-haired man offered her a large hand, "Natsu" he said.

Lucy smiled and shook his hand, "Lucy" she replied.

"So, are you still worried about Gray or does your friend have some quirks of her own?"

Lucy grimaced at which Natsu chuckled, "Yeah, Cana has quirks but she keeps saying she wants to meet new people –"

"So you decided to play matchmaker and dragged her here?"

"Bingo!"

Natsu let out a full laugh and the blonde couldn't help but join in. It was addicting and wonderful, that sound.

"Just another thing we've got in common, eh Luce?"

"Sounds like it, I wonder what else we might have in common?" she teased. Lucy looked up at Natsu through her long lashes, her brown eyes holding his gaze as he smirked a little.

"We should find out," he said.

Suddenly, the pink-haired man was standing and offering Lucy his hand.

"This place was actually my idea, y'know? And I am a master gamer."

"Really?" Lucy smiled, taking the offered hand, and standing next to him. "Lead the way, oh powerful game master."

The two giggled as they headed over to the front door only to be stopped as a half-naked black-haired man and a staggering laughing brunette who were being escorted out by security.

It would seem in their bush flirting they'd forgotten their important task of keeping an eye on their friends.

The two groaned and let go of each other's hands so they could grab their respective friends. Lucy offered Natsu a small smile, "It was nice to meet you." She said while bracing herself against Cana's weight as the brunette leaned all her weight on the blonde.

"Maybe next time we skip the bush part?" Natsu teased, forcing a spare t-shirt over Gray's head. He gave Lucy a little shrug as he lifted his Gray emergency bag onto his shoulder.

Lucy laughed. "Sounds like a plan," she said, leading Cana back to their car.